Los Angeles
County
Biographies
REV. GEORGE DAVIDSON, D. D.
Rev.
George Davidson has for the past two decades served as rector of St. John’s
Episcopal Church of Los Angeles, the largest church of that denomination in
California as well as one of the most artistic in the United States. He was born April 28, 1880, a son of George
and Mary Frances (Lynch) Davidson. His
father, a native of Scotland, emigrated to America when a youth of eighteen
years, locating in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he became a wholesale dealer in queensware, fine china and Italian statuary. He developed a vast business, finding markets
in all principal countries on the Atlantic coast, and became widely known for
his outstanding success in the field of activity, in which he was a
pioneer. In 1884 he crossed the border
into the United States and took up his abode in Kansas City, Kansas, where he
passed away a few years later. His widow
then came to Los Angeles, California, where her death occurred in 1925. Only two of the seven children of the family
survive: George, of this review; and
Miss Celia Davidson, of Los Angeles.
George
Davidson acquired his early education in the public schools of Kansas City,
Kansas, and continued his studies at St. John’s Military School of Salina,
Kansas, while subsequently he matriculated at Kenyon College of Gambier, Ohio,
from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1902. In preparation for the Episcopalian ministry,
he next entered the Seabury Divinity School of Faribault, Minnesota, and
afterward spent two years at the Bexley Theological
Seminary of Gambier, Ohio. He was
graduated from Bexley Hall in 1904 and at the same
time received from Kenyon College the degree of Master of Arts for original
research work in the department of English.
Marietta College of Ohio honored him with the degree of Doctor of
Divinity in 1917, while in 1930 the University of Southern California conferred
upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws for “distinguished Christian
service.” He was made a deacon of the
Episcopal Church in 1904 and, as a student, carried on missionary work in
southern Kansas and the Indian Territory.
In 1905 he was ordained to the priesthood of his church and became
rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church of Marietta, Ohio, where he remained for
six years, effectively building up the parish.
Subsequently he was a domestic missionary in Cheyenne, Wyoming, as
rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church for two years, and while a resident of
that state he served as chaplain of the Wyoming legislature.
On
April 1, 1913, Dr. Davidson came to Los Angeles, California, as rector of St.
John’s Episcopal Church, over which he has presided continuously to the present
time. At the beginning of his pastorate
here the congregation, numbering about six hundred, worshipped in a small
structure of bungalow type on the site of the present magnificent church, which
was dedicated February 1, 1925, and now has a congregation of over twenty-one
hundred. St. John’s Episcopal Church of
Los Angeles, unquestionably the handsomest and most dignified religious structure
on the Pacific coast, was voted by the Institute of Architects the most
beautiful church in California. The
interior decorations of St. John’s Church are not surpassed in loveliness
anywhere in the country. Among its
outstanding features are hand carved and rare specimens of marble and mosaic
work, executed by the noted Italian sculptor Scarpitta;
the hand carved façade, by Scarpitta, as a memorial
to the mother of William A. Clark (III); an unusually fine organ, one of the
best in the city, which was manufactured by the Skinner Organ Works and
dedicated as a gift from Mrs. James R. Page to the memory of her mother, Mrs.
Susan Van Nuys; a most majestic altar, made in Italy, consisting of marble and
mosaic, with a carved triptych, carved by a pupil of Anton Lang, and which
serves as a covering for the sanctuary walls.
This
is a memorial to Isaac Milbank and was erected by his beloved wife; the
communion rail, also of marble and mosaic, a gift of the A. C. Bilicke family; a marble lectern, a gift of Mrs. Spencer H.
Smith in memory of her parents, Gillies and Josephine
(Du Colombier) Ballett,
carved in Italy by Scarpitta. These five memorials, very distinctive in
character, contribute to the renown of the entire edifice for interior beauty,
and St. John’s Church has been visited by many leading laymen from other
cities. There is also a magnificent
baptismal font, a memorial for Thomas Jefferson Flemming,
the gift of the family, and there are other beautiful and costly memorials and
gifts. The entire structure, with its
furnishings, stands as a fine tribute to the high ideals of Dr. Davidson. All but five of the one hundred ninety-two
soldiers and sailors who enlisted from St. John’s Church returned, numbering
among them representatives of many of the most distinguished families of
southern California.
In
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dr. Davidson married Miss Adelaide Marie Bindley,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Bindley, representatives of a well-known old
family of that city. Dr. and Mrs.
Davidson are the parents of a son, George Bindley Davidson, born in Los
Angeles, June 1, 1925.
Dr.
Davidson is a Knight Templar Mason who has also attained the thirty-second
degree of the Scottish Rite. He is a member of the national fraternity
Beta Theta Phi, the Los Angeles Country Club, the Hollywood Country Club and
the Potrero Country Club, also an honorary life
member of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Beach Club, the International
Cooperative Club and the Seamen’s Institute, being a director of the last
named. He is one of the founders and the
president of the Church Home for Children, and he also has membership in the
Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and in other civic
organizations. Golf and other outdoor
sports afford him pleasurable recreation.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. V, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 421-424,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPHIES